Priceless Mother's Day Present

Ashley (4)

The Cousins Club hung out the other day and baby Benji did his best to impress Ashley. "He's still only one, so he can't talk," she reported. "But he's up on his hind legs now, and he runs everywhere."

Benji, unleashed.

I was in the living room while the little girls played house in the bedroom. "Oma, I have to go to the bathroom," called Chelsea as she whizzed past me in a blur. "Can you put this game on pause?" A second later the door banged open and she shouted, "You can un-pause it now."

Kidspeak is a delightful language.

Original Kidspeak notations.

A bloggy mom (please take credit if you're reading this) posted a clever idea a few years ago. She keeps a note pad and pen next to a jar on her counter. When someone says something in Kidspeak, she jots it down, folds it up and stashes it in the jar. On chaotic, stressful afternoons when she needs a smile she pulls out a slip. It's caffeine-free rejuvenation! (And a Mother's Day gift idea.)

Emmie (9)

Sometimes a little hero worship sneaks in. Concerned about the wild weather back east, I asked Emmie about their situation. "And your dad's going out of town? What happens if your power goes out?" "Well," she said. "We do have Jake."

Jake (11)

Kidspeak is my love language.

Oh . . . by the way.
Just in case you missed my self-induction
into the hall of fame, this is the re-cap:

"Moi?"

I was asked to write an article on being a long distance grandparent
for a fabulous blog called GrandparentsAbout.com.

Read it here.

The website is part of The New York Times Company.
(Yes. I'm bragging.)

"I'd like to thank my publisher, and my English professor, and my Jr. High newspaper,
and my type teacher, and everyone I know, and my Mac . . ." ♫ ♫

(Someone get her off the stage!)